Christmas Cheer and Festivities

All work and no play makes for a gloomy office . . . especially around Christmas. So here are some highlights of our play during the past few weeks.

This year’s office decorating contest was a battle of the grinches with two departments independently hitting upon a “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” theme.

The text developers ultimately triumphed (they not only decorated but also put on a performance for the judges, complete with a 6 or 8 member choir). And there was a strong showing from a number of other departments and individuals as well. (See more photos...)

Of course there were some scrooges who didn’t decorate at all.

The annual bake-off was a sweet success, with nearly a dozen entries to spoil our collective appetite for lunch. For some of us, the baked treats were lunch.

First place went to Ryan Husser, Logos book designer, with his Magic Cookie Bars. Second and third place went to Kelsey Sebens’ peanut butter bars and James VanNoord’s “O Little Mint of Bellingham” bars, respectively. Two of the recipes are below.

The Logos Christmas Party was a great chance to fellowship with one another, meet spouses and “significant others”, and even meet some co-workers for the first time.

Bob told us the story of the first ever company Christmas party, held in a stairwell at the Oak Harbor office, with a menu that included Oscar Meyer cold cut and Wonder Bread sandwiches. It was pretty amazing to look around at the largest Logos Christmas party to date and be thankful for the ways God has blessed this company.

We hope you have a merry Christmas and look forward to serving you in the New Year!

Magic Cookies Bars

Ingredients: 1 stick (½ cup) butter 1 ½ cup crushed graham crackers (sandwiching between two pieces of waxed paper works best for me) 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1 cup (6 oz) chocolate chips 1 cup (6 oz) butterscotch chips 1 1/3 cup coconut flakes 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350° Melt butter in 13 x 9 inch pan Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs onto butter, shake pan gently to disperse evenly Drizzle sweetened condensed milk evenly over butter/graham cracker crumbs Sprinkle chocolate chips, then butterscotch chips, then coconut, then walnuts (if desired) over sweetened condensed milk Bake for 25 minutes Let cool and cut into pieces

O Little Mint of Bellingham(Creamy Mint Bars )

Recipe from Genny Gerrits; Holland, MI; April 1996Grease 9×13 pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Base/Crust:1 Chocolate Mint Pillsbury Cake mix or 1 double chocolate pudding cake mix plus 1 teaspoon mint extract 1/3 cup softened margarine1 egg1/4 cup waterCombine all ingredients and mix at low speed. Press into greased pan and bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow to cool.

Filling:1 envelope unflavored Knox gelatin. Sprinkle on 1/4 cup cold water and heat according to package directions to dissolve gelatin. 4 cups powdered sugar, divided1/2 cup margarine1/2 cup Crisco or butter flavored shortening1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract2 to 5 drops green food coloring. After gelatin is dissolved, allow to cool. Mix soft gelatin with 2 cups of powdered sugar, margarine, shortening, flavoring and coloring. Beat one minute at medium speed or until creamy. Blend in balance of sugar. Spread over crust.

Frosting:

• 6 oz milk chocolate chips
• 3 T shortening

Melt chips and shortening and drizzle over filling. Refrigerate.

Notes: The base/crust is very thick and sticky. It will probably take longer than 10 minutes to be done. I doubled this recipe for the bake-off and used a 18×13 half sheet pan—I substituted butter one-for-one in place of margarine.